LMI has hired U.S. Army veteran and entrepreneur Ian Folau to head its venture capital fund, LMI Ventures.
Through the new fund, the company will pursue strategic partnerships with companies that augment LMI’s federal support in advanced analytics, digital services, logistics and management advisory services.
“Ian’s leadership and insight will be instrumental as we explore partnerships that deliver pioneering solutions with speed and scalability to federal clients,” said Cos DiMaggio, LMI chief technology and strategy officer. “Collaboration is at the heart of LMI’s approach to innovation. LMI Ventures is an exciting next step, one we believe benefits the startup community, LMI, and our customers.”
Folau joins LMI after serving as CEO of GitLinks, an open-source risk management platform he co-founded in 2015.
GitLinks was acquired last year by multibillion-dollar enterprise software company Infor.
“Pursuing government business can be a daunting and often resource-intensive endeavor for many startups,” Folau said. “As a respected government solutions provider and not-for-profit organization, LMI is an ideal partner to help these companies establish federal-sector relationships. I look forward to working with the LMI team and our funded partners to put new innovations to work on tough national challenges.”
Folau co-founded GitLinks with a classmate while pursuing his MBA with a focus on technology entrepreneurship at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.
Folau spent nine years in the U.S. Army, serving as a threat intelligence manager in the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Kunar, Afghanistan. He received a Bronze Star.
He has a bachelor’s in systems engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.